Simultaneous quantitation and identification of organic and inorganic selenium in diet supplements by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry

A liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) method was developed for selenium speciation in dietary supplements. Chromatographic separation was performed on a TSK-Gel ODS-100V column using a mixture of 5 mM ammonium acetate water solution and methanol as a mobile phase. Conditions chosen for this process allowed to separate all investigated chemical compounds of selenium: seleno-l-methionine, methyl-seleno-l-cysteine, l-selenocystine, methaneseleninic acid, selenite and selenate. A tandem mass spectrometer with an ion trap operating in negative or positive ion mode according to the selenium form being determined was used as a detector. Three extraction procedures: water extraction, enzymatic hydrolysis and sequential extraction were used for preparation of samples for the determination of the actual forms of selenium in diet supplements. The developed method was used for analysis of six dietary supplements containing selenium bought in a pharmacy and supermarket. Apart from speciation analysis of selenium content in supplements total selenium content was determined using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). All expected forms of selenium except for selenite were determined using LC–MS/MS technique. It should be stressed that amounts of selenate were smaller than expected.